Friday, January 28, 2011

30 Days of Truth: Day 12

Day 12 -- Something You Never Get Compliments On

Well, this is turning into 30 years of truth, isn't it? Oh well, good thing I am not writing this blog on a deadline or anything.

Is this supposed to be something I never get compliments on but I should because I am awesome at it? Or something I never get compliments on rightfully so because I suck at it? Guess I'll answer both.

Something I should get lots of compliments on but I don't: parenting. Like every parent, I think. It's hard. So so hard. To do it well, at least. But no one is here watching, no one goes, "Wow, you could have just put the kids in front of the TV this afternoon, but you didn't. You packed them up, you took them to the park, you put them first even though you weren't feeling well." No one gives you a medal for taking the time to cook them something nutritious when you really just wanted to drive through somewhere. No one can possibly know the sacrifices you make over and over, moment after moment. It just comes with the territory. I got a lot of warm fuzzies teaching other peoples' kids, kind notes from parents, compliments from co workers, thanks from the students. I miss it sometimes, but I know that the good choices I make for the girls are an investment in their future, and that is thanks enough for me.

Something I will never get a compliment on ever: my attention span. I do nothing in a linear fashion. Ever. I am the one who leaves the milk on the counter, who gets halfway into 6 different projects all at once, who can't just sit and watch a TV show without ALSO surfing the net. I am absolutely a poster child for untreated adult ADD. I'm so used to it. I don't mind it. I don't find that it limits me in any way. (Except for having a TERRIBLE memory. That part I would like to fix.) It's just how I roll. It drives poor Dearest to distraction half the time, to the point that I have considered getting medicated just for his sake.

Here's a dumb joke, but it's a pretty good summary of my day-to-day life, except add two toddlers to the mix:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the table that I collected from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that it is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mail box when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the fridge to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the table catches my eye - they need water.

I put the Coke on the table and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the table, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control.

Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote control, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the front room where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote control back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
- the car isn't washed
- the bills aren't paid
- there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the worktop
- the flowers don't have enough water
- there is still only 1 check in my check book
- I can't find the remote control
- I can't find my glasses
- and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

2 comments:

genevieve said...

I'll say one thing: you've totally changed my attitude toward [most] stay-at-home moms. My whole adult life I've thought "what in hell are you bitching about? You get to take NAPS!"....but, i can see now, through your eyes, that that's only for the lucky SAHMs who have other help, or who don't take much of an interest in their kids.

re. ADD: I think that's what I'm afraid of if I have kids. I have *just*, in recent years, gotten to the point where I don't do every single thing on that joke-list every single day, and I feel I have a tenuous grasp on organizational skills. I don't want to lose it quite yet. :)

Hey Monkey Butt said...

Wow! I think I even forgot what I was doing while reading this. Can't say anything though, I do the same things! haha...